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Funding and Tuition

Funding

Financial Support in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies maximizes funding opportunities for Western graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with the goal of ensuring Western is ranked in the top five of U15 institutions in terms of overall graduate student support per recipient. SGPS administers the application and payment processes for several internal and external funding competitions each year and supports graduate units in the hiring of students for research and teaching duties.

As one of Canada's leading research institutions, Western places great importance on recruiting exceptional graduate students. We offer competitive student support packages to help achieve this goal, allowing graduate students to focus on their research and development. The following chart illustrates the average funding Western graduate students receive from all sources.

While at Western, you will want to devote your full energy to the successful completion of your studies, so we want to ensure that stable funding is available to you. Western guarantees minimum annual funding for doctoral students, from all sources, of $13,000 plus tuition.

For Doctoral students who start in September 2017 (September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018), the Doctoral Funding Guarantee is:

$19,915 for a domestic student

$30,501 for an international student

In addition to the financial support available from federal and provincial sources and research grant support, Western offers a variety of internal awards that are among the best available to outstanding scholars in Canada. Full-time Western graduate students are eligible for support from the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, provided they meet the appropriate criteria.

Opportunities

Some funding is awarded to you upon entry into a program, some is based on recommendations from the program that is admitting you, and others you must apply for yourself, either to Western University or to an external funding agency.

Graduate programs are the primary source of internal funding for many of our graduate students through the Western Graduate Research Scholarships (WGRS) program, and teaching and research assistantships.

Generous donations from our alumni and from corporations, foundations and other friends of Western University have helped to create many graduate student award and support programs. Recipients are selected by nomination or by an internal competition. Please contact your graduate program for more details about awards that may be available to you. For a comprehensive listing of all current donor-funded graduate awards at Western, please access the Donor-Funded Award Search:

The Province of Ontario is a very generous supporter and promoter of graduate student excellence and offers a suite of lucrative scholarship programs through annual competitions that are administered by the provincial universities and the Council of Ontario Universities (COU).

The Government of Canada promotes high-quality research in a wide variety of disciplines and areas through its three funding agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). National foundations and trusts, created through the philanthropy of renowned Canadians, also offer prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs which aim to advance Canada’s role in knowledge creation, innovation, and global leadership.

Desiring to promote, develop and strengthen the relationship between Western and other countries and recognizing the contribution international graduate students bring to the university, Western has entered into a number of partnership agreements with government organizations and programs around the world to bring in qualified international students to pursue their graduate degree at Western on scholarship and/or grant. Please refer to the list and links below for scholarship and sponsorships opportunities in your country.

Graduate program personnel coordinate scholarship operations internally and together represent Western’s front-line service team dedicated to assisting students and faculty throughout competition season.

Cost of Living

Important factors in deciding where to attend graduate school are the location and the cost of living in that community. Not only is London a vibrant cosmopolitan centre, but it offers many of the same benefits of a large city without the high cost of living.

Financial Planning

Below is an overview of estimated costs associated with attending graduate school full-time over a 12-month period. It is important to note that costs depend on a number of factors, including a student's program, familial situation, and personal needs. These estimates should also only serve as a guideline, and do not include funding estimates received from internal and external scholarships and aid. All costs are estimated in Canadian dollars.